Best way to final clean brass??

[Mag 300]

I use a vibrator to initially clean then ensure the primer pocket is deburred and at .081 clean the pockets, resize brass lubing the inside neck with imperial. as they are resized.
what is the best way to clean the brass of all wax, oil etc preferably not a chemical bath ?
Bill

 

[Rob01]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

30 minute tumble is what I do.

 

[deadly0311]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

i use a ultrasonic cleaner with some HOT water and a few drops of dish soap

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

When I complete cartridge assembly, I take the completed rounds and wipe them down thoroughly with rubbing alcohol, then a clean, dry cloth diaper to remove any traces of lube, then spin them in a pad of 0 steel wool, to remove any traces of carbon, fingerprint residue, bullet oxidation, etc. They are then boxed in lots of 20 and the boxes are sealed with computer printed labels. Cleaner ammo going outbound comes back back to the shop with less work needed afterward. My match rounds are single fed and hand extracted; the rifle's extractor is disabled. They do not get tossed randomly into the ground cover.

Greg

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

I keep 2 batches of media. One is for initial cleaning and the other for tumbling off case lube. The media for the case lube is normally my older initial cleaning media that is used and not tumbling a shine onto the case. It gets pretty gummed up after some uses.

Has anyone used the IOSSO products to add to their media? If so, what have you used and how did it work? Have you added it to used media to increase the life of the media? Thanks!

Chad

 

[300LW]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rob01</div><div class="ubbcode-body">30 minute tumble is what I do. </div></div>

I've always been told not to tumble loaded ammo. The argument is that tumbling will rub the coating off the powder grains and change its burn rate, possibly creating dangerous overpressure. 30 minutes might not be enough time to cause a problem but I'd rather not take the chance. Wiping with a dry rag has worked for me.

 

[308sako]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

Deleted in protest!

 

[918v]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

I wipe the imperial off with a rag. Is that high tech enough for this thread?

 

[cpermd]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 300LW</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rob01</div><div class="ubbcode-body">30 minute tumble is what I do. </div></div>

I've always been told not to tumble loaded ammo. The argument is that tumbling will rub the coating off the powder grains and change its burn rate, possibly creating dangerous overpressure. 30 minutes might not be enough time to cause a problem but I'd rather not take the chance. Wiping with a dry rag has worked for me.

</div></div>

That is not true.
It relates back to blackpowder days.
Which do you think vibrates a cartridge more, 30 minutes in a tumbler or 3 days on the interstate?
I was in on some studies at the Lonoke Remington plant in the 80s and even after a week of tumbling we couldn't find any change in the powder, coating, pressure, velocity or accuracy.

CP

 

[Rob01]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 300LW</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rob01</div><div class="ubbcode-body">30 minute tumble is what I do. </div></div>

I've always been told not to tumble loaded ammo. The argument is that tumbling will rub the coating off the powder grains and change its burn rate, possibly creating dangerous overpressure. 30 minutes might not be enough time to cause a problem but I'd rather not take the chance. Wiping with a dry rag has worked for me.

</div></div>

Where did he say it was loaded ammo? He was talking about brass after sizing.

 

[shooting4life]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

I just add a little paint thinner to the media and a few strips of cloth when I do my cleaning. The cloth helps keep the dust down.

 

[300LW]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

Rob01, you are correct. My mistake.

 

[TT]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

I wipe the imperial off with a rag. Is that high tech enough for this thread?

+1 on what he said...

 

[cpermd]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

Curious as to why my post was wacked?

CP

 

[mdmp5]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChadTRG42</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I keep 2 batches of media. One is for initial cleaning and the other for tumbling off case lube. The media for the case lube is normally my older initial cleaning media that is used and not tumbling a shine onto the case. It gets pretty gummed up after some uses.

Has anyone used the IOSSO products to add to their media? If so, what have you used and how did it work? Have you added it to used media to increase the life of the media? Thanks!

Chad

</div></div>

Chad, I have used the Iosso case cleaner, the stuff you dunk your brass in and leave it for a couple of minutes. It really removes a lot of crap off the brass, but it doesn't do a super complete job. If you do this step before tumbling, the tumbling time gets cut in half at least. You just have to make sure the brass is dry before you tumble, or you will be picking media out of the cases with a hex key for hours; ask me how I know this.

 

[DocB]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

Bill,

I spray with Shout, wash with Dawn in warm water, dry and final tumble. Don't know if this counts as chemicals, but it works.

HTH,
DocB

 

[bohem]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChadTRG42</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Has anyone used the IOSSO products to add to their media? If so, what have you used and how did it work? Have you added it to used media to increase the life of the media? Thanks!

Chad
</div></div>

I've used IOSSO a few years back. At the time it still had ammonia in it, I don't know if it does anymore. I use Flitz now.

It makes a clear difference above raw media, or treated media, or even stuff that's been used a number of times.

I have tumbled close to 5000 rounds through my latest batch of media. It's almost dead, but I've Flitz'd it about 5 times now.

My dad claims you can pour the media into cheese clothe and swish it around in a bucket of warm soapy water to rejuvinate it.

That's too much work for me to deal with, corncob isn't worth that kind of time to me. I just toss it about twice a year and pour in a few pounds of new stuff.

 

[dan46n2]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cpermd</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 300LW</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rob01</div><div class="ubbcode-body">30 minute tumble is what I do. </div></div>

I've always been told not to tumble loaded ammo. The argument is that tumbling will rub the coating off the powder grains and change its burn rate, possibly creating dangerous overpressure. 30 minutes might not be enough time to cause a problem but I'd rather not take the chance. Wiping with a dry rag has worked for me.

</div></div>

That is not true.
It relates back to blackpowder days.
Which do you think vibrates a cartridge more, 30 minutes in a tumbler or 3 days on the interstate?
I was in on some studies at the Lonoke Remington plant in the 80s and even after a week of tumbling we couldn't find any change in the powder, coating, pressure, velocity or accuracy.

CP </div></div>

A tumbler vibrates the grains a lot more than the bumps they go through riding in a truck on the highway, the frequency is much higher in a tumbler. It would take days riding in a truck to equal what the rounds go through in a few minutes of a tumbler.

 

[christpher7]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

+1 on the

ultrasonic cleaner with some HOT water and a few drops of dish soap

 

[tfsron]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

I use the stainless media and Dawn dish washing soap for the initial cleaning; see the "media for tumbling" thread for details. After resizing and trimming I run them through a tumbler with corn cob and liquid car polish to remove the sizing lube. My idea is completely clean with a light carnauba wax finish to prevent tarnish.

Good shooting
Ron

 

[Mark Walker]

Re: Best way to final clean brass??

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 918v</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I wipe the imperial off with a rag. Is that high tech enough for this thread? </div></div>

I have upgraded from a plain rag to a microfiber rag, so I can claim to be high-tech...